


Freezerburn

by orphan_account



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, Fusion, Gratsu - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-05-14 09:08:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5737837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where fusion is the height of the bonds between wizards, Natsu and Gray struggle to figure out why their fusion is so different to when they fuse with others, and why it has such a profound effect on them. After all, isn't fusion meant for couples?<br/>(Fusion!AU inspired by Steven Universe)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Two, But One

Cyclops Ear was by no means a particularly powerful Dark Guild. Hell, _Eisenwald_ had put up more of a fight than them. Nothing they had produced, mage or weapon, could stand against Fairy Tail's strongest team.

Nothing except this fucking gate that is.

" _Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"_

_"Ice Make: Lance!"_

_"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"_

Flame, frost and steel reduced the colossal gate guarding the Guild Master's quarters to a smoldering fraction of its previous size, but before the threshold could be crossed, the dark marble and stone arose from dust, the bricks flew back into place, the tiles reformed over them, and in seconds, then gate stood again, as though it had never been touched.

Team Natsu stood panting in the dull purple hall, illuminated only by violet fire held by the torches on the walls. Their attempts to penetrate the gate thus far had proven fruitless, and only served to exhaust the wizards.

"It- it repairs itself faster than we can break it," Gray grimaced through heavy breaths.

Lucy examined the gate. "I get the feeling that we need to take it out entirely with one massive attack to remove it properly, or it'll just regenerate again and again. We can't cross if even a single piece remains."

"You're probably right," Erza agreed, her Heaven's Wheel fading back to her normal gear, placing an armoured hand on the cool stone. "But no one of us has enough raw power for a spell of that scale." With a glint in her eyes, the Fairy Queen turned to face her teammates. "Natsu, Gray, I think the only one who can break it is Gratsu."

"What?!"

"Ugh, do we have t-"

"This guild has been taking assassination jobs, if we don't stop the Master here more people will die. If you don't want that, then we need you to fuse."

Fusion. The ultimate expression of the relationship between wizards. Those with a strong bond could come together to form an entirely new person, greater than the sum of its parts. A fusion gains its strength from the bond of its components, and for this reason is generally most powerful when performed by those in a happy romantic relationship, a fact which led to quite a stigma surrounding it, causing fusion between straight males to dwindle in frequency. Masculinity is fragile and easily threatened.

"Can't _you_ just fuse with him, Erza?" Gray beseeched her, desperate to get out of committing such an intimate act with his rival.

Erza considered this. "Natza is powerful... but she focuses more on precision and being careful. We don't need _careful_. We need _explosive_."

Gray realised that he was fighting a losing battle, and looked to Natsu for support. To his disappointment, he found the Salamander standing with his eyed closed and breathing deeply, clearly centring himself in preparation for their dance. The Ice Wizard resigned himself to the inevitable, taking his place a few metres to the right of Natsu, and began to stretch. Erza took Lucy by the arm and steered her to a short distance down the hall, murmuring that the boys "need their space."

Lucy was excited. She had never seen a fusion in person before, even amongst the closely tied Fairy Tail wizards, only pictures of Sting and Rogue's fusion, Stingue, in _Weekly Sorcerer_.

She was also very interested to see the dance moves of Natsu and Gray.

The Celestial Spirit Mage watched in anticipation, as fire and ice stood in identical, neutral positions, facing where she and Erza stood, eyes calmly shut. Then, in an instant, the two sprang to life in an unspoken synergy that took Lucy by surprise. Natsu performed a shockingly elegant pirouette, while Gray slid backwards into him, the two coming together in the centre of their old distance.

"They move so differently," she murmured to Erza, as the dance began.

"That's because they _are_ different," Titania smiled.

"Natsu, he dances with a grace you would never know he possesses." The man in question held Gray's hand in a firm but tender grip as he spun him on the spot. "He's true to his dragon nature, he treats his partner like valuable glass, to be cherished and protected." Indeed, Natsu was gazing at Gray with a gentle focus as he caught the taller man out of his twirl. "He guards, and he guides."

"Gray is much more physical in his movements." The Ice-Maker wrapped a leg around Natsu's waist, bending back skilfully far in the warm grip he knew wouldn't drop him. "He has a sort of sensual allure, very much focused on entrancing his partner." Erza's analysis was proven right as she spoke it, as Gray, his serious expression melting into a relaxed smile, stood with his back pressed to Natsu's burning chest, rolling his shoulders back into the pinket, who let his mouth fall open in a silent satisfaction.

Lucy felt her face burn. "They're getting very... _into it_ , aren't they?"

Erza smirked knowingly. "They have no choice, they're too far in. They're acting purely on instinct now."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. _This is their instinct_...?

The dim Dark Guild lair played no music, but Natsu and Gray danced in sync to a tune only they could hear. Natsu felt Gray grind backwards onto him, and bit back a moan, running a hand down his partner's bare chest. He could tell, without his eyes, that it was working. Lucy's barely audible gasp told him that they were nearing the end of their dance, and opening his eyes confirmed this, as the telltale sign of a successful fusion dance made itself apparent:

Their guild marks glowed. A cold blue and a fiery red. Their finishing move was here.

Natsu threw Gray outward, maintaining a firm grip on his arm, as they extended the distance between them to arm's length. A split-second of eye contact heralded their final movement. Natsu pulled Gray, whose hand moved to the Dragon Slayer's cheek on the way, down into a low dip, staring deeply into his eyes, green and grey meeting one another in a determined passion. Their faces so close that Natsu could count the beads of sweat on Gray's forehead.

So close he could _kiss_ _him_...

The light from their guild marks enveloped them, and it was done.

Lucy squinted as she attempted to make out the shape hidden in the bright light, and as the glow faded her mouth fell open.

The handsomest man she had ever seen stood before her, shaking his spiky purple bangs out of his dull green eyes before opening them. He wore tight black pants, and an open vest similar to Natsu's, (showing his chest that would put _Laxus_ to shame) but it was predominantly white, with dark blue trimming. As he raised his hands over his head in a stretch, sharp teeth biting his lip as he did so, Lucy noticed as his vest was pulled up that he was marked an identical X-shaped scar on each hip. Scars carried over from his components. Scars from battles he didn't fight. His hands bore a bracelet each, the blonde girl noticed, but upon further inspection realised that his right wrist was adorned with a shrunken down version of Igneel's scarf, his left a small incarnation of Gray's precious cross necklace. He relaxed with a sigh, looking at the girls, the armour-clad one stepping forward to meet him.

"Gratsu," she smiled. "Good to see you."

* * *

 

Gratsu looked himself over. He was different to last time. He was more muscular, and he noticed a new scar on his hip, matching the old one on the other side. Natsu and Gray had clearly been busy.

 _Ah, Tenrou_ , he mused, that part of his brain that felt like Gray filling in the details of his newest wound. _Bloody ice._..

He looked up. Erza. A familiar pang of that curious mix of security and fear.

His eyes moved to the girl beside her. Gratsu had never met her, but he knew her well. Lucy. Natsu's best friend. He flashed his toothy grin at her, resulting in a blush from her as she looked anywhere but his eyes, settling on the deep purple Fairy Tail mark on his clavicle.

"So, Erza, you just need to me to wreck this door?" he inquired, turning to face the dark magic object.

"Utterly. And in one blow."

"Got it," Gratsu smirked confidently, taking a very deep breath, and suddenly the purple flames on the torches lighting the hall eagerly soared to his mouth, where he swallowed them whole, drowning the group in darkness. Lucy felt slightly uncomfortable at this blindness in enemy territory, but it didn't last long. Around the fusion's feet, a ring of fire burst to life, illuminating the chamber. Not the heated red flames of Natsu Dragneel.

The cold blue flames of Gratsu Dragbuster.

The blonde girl was surprised to see the man briefly assume an Ice-Make stance, slamming his right fist on his left palm, and the flames roared to life around him, coiling and swirling. Living. Gratsu concentrated deeply, his two souls fuelling him with endless energy. He exhaled. " _Frost, Flame, Devil, Dragon._ "

The girls shielded their eyes as the fire grew to blinding size and intensity.

Gratsu stared down the door.

" _Freezerburn!_ "

Unable to help herself, Lucy opened her eyes. A great dragon with a body of blue flame briefly manifested before her, and was suddenly gone, charging down the regenerating barrier. The Celestial Spirit Mage felt a surreal chill sweep over her, a cold somehow born from fire, as their obstacle was blown to oblivion.

Seeing through the dark only by the sapphire embers in the crater before them, Team Natsu waited with baited breath as a few pieces of rubble shook feebly, searching for a survivor to regenerate on, before laying still, this time forever.

Erza surveyed the fusion's handiwork, and was unsurprised, but impressed nonetheless. "I've always told you two how strong you are when you work together."

"I'm not " _two_ ", I'm _one_ ," Gratsu said shortly, walking down the now unobstructed path. Lucy hurried to catch up with him.

"Are you gonna defuse?"

"Why bother, there's still the Guild Master. That was the whole point of destroying the gate, remember?" he drawled slightly.

Lucy fought back irritation. That sarcasm was most definitely Gray's.

As Gratsu marched purposefully towards the light at the end of the dark all, Lucy noticed Erza was strolling cheerfully behind them.

"Shouldn't we go after him? The Master here is supposed to be really strong."

"I'm sure he can handle it," Titania hummed idly. "We just need to go along as support. If he has it under control we can go rendezvous with Wendy and the Exceeds. They should have taken care of most of this town's wounded by now."

"You think he can take this dark wizard alone?" Lucy asked in a hushed tone.

"I'm never alone!" Gratsu called back, his voice distant, having nearly reached the Master's chamber.

Lucy sighed. Natsu's hearing was hard to evade, and she imagined it was only enhanced by this fusion. "Just how strong is he...?"

"I'd say he could beat me," Erza mused, to Lucy's shock. " _If!_ " she added quickly. " _If_ he didn't just rush in. Extra muscle won't do much good against a sword if you can't use it right."

"It's _damn_ fine muscle though..." Lucy murmured.

"Agreed."

Gratsu smirked slightly, obviously hearing them. He _was_ damn fine. Having attractive components is a blessing. He put these thoughts out of his head, as he entered the Guild Master's circular chamber.

* * *

 

"Oh, wonderful," Master Turanga spat venomously. " _Fairy Tail_. Should've known Makarov's _trash_ would've come snooping around eventually."

The team stood silently for a moment taking in their surroundings. A dim, blue room, scarcely furnished by a few black couches, the center one of which was occupied by Turanga, the Master of Cyclops Ear. A slender, dark-skinned woman, adorned with a half-shaven head of silver hair, and a deeply scarred and blinded eye, making her the titular "cyclops". She was clad in an elegant but plain black dress, and sprawled across one of her sofas, setting aside a book.

"Titania, the Heartfilia heiress, and... you're new..." she remarked, gaze settling on Gratsu. "Wait... Dragneel and Fullbuster aren't here... Oh you have to be joking? A _fusion_?!" she threw her head back with a cackle, rising to her feet. "This is more pathetic than I was expecting, that you had to resort to such a shameless act to get past my door. Are you all that weak-"

Her mockery was cut short by a clenched fist around her throat. Her eyes widened at Gratsu's appearance in front of her, faster than the eyes of anyone else in the room could follow, his glare alight with a contained rage.

" _Too slow_ ," he growled, before hurling her into a nearby wall with enough force to leave a crater.

Turanga spat out blood. "Alright, fusion," she hissed. "Show me the power of _two_ weaklings."

"I'm not " _two_ "," Gratsu replied coolly, calling his cold flames to his hands. "I'm _one_."

* * *

 

The fight was quick. Turanga had proven her "Master" status with her Conjuration Magic, summoning ethereal weapons and minions to aid her in the battle, but her creations fell quickly to Gratsu's strength. Several of her guild members had arrived to intervene but were efficiently dispatched of by Lucy and Erza.

Turanga was on her last legs, creating a spear despite her exhaustion. She unsteadily sprinted towards her opponent, who held out his hand with an aggressive grin.

" _Blizzard Phoenix_."

Gratsu's final spell decimated the outmatched Guild Master, and she fell to the ground, defeated.

* * *

 

Afterwards, with the members of Cyclops Ear handed over to the Royal Army with the information that their guild was disbanded, Team Natsu walked the familiar road to Magnolia, surrounded by deep forests on either side.

"Oh, you should've seen me Wendy, that Cyclops wench didn't stand a chance," Gratsu recounted to the Sky Dragon Slayer he towered over. "She couldn't even _touch_ me!"

"Sounds impressive, uh, Gratsu-san," Wendy agreed with a smile, having trouble getting used to this tall man who was both strange and familiar at once.

Gratsu didn't seem to notice this, too busy revelling in his victory. He loved feeling so powerful! He felt tall, and he felt warm and cool at the same time, and he felt like nothing could stop him. He wondered if Laxus would be at the guild when they returned, maybe Gratsu could challenge him, after he told Romeo how well the mission had went, and said hi to Juvia, and gotten a quick drink-

But his happy thoughts were cut off by Lucy asking what all the girls (and Happy) were wondering. "So, uh, I kinda wanna address the elephant in the room. Do you plan on defusing?"

Gratsu stopped walking suddenly, his smile fading. "Oh, um, right. Ha, I totally forgot," he admitted with a forced chuckle. "I mean Natsu and Gray didn't wanna fuse in the first place, and it was just for the fight-"

And with that, he was gone.

Natsu felt unsteady on his feet, unbalanced, as though a strong presence he had been leaning on was suddenly yanked away. He immediately noticed that he was cold, even though having separated from Gray, if anything he should have gotten warmer. He instinctively reached for his scarf for comfort, only to find it missing. Along with his vest.

_Oh dear god please don't tell me we defused naked._

Looking down, however, Natsu found himself donning a pair of black boxers and a familiar cross-shaped necklace. To confirm his suspicions of their origin, he looked at Gray beside him to find the Ice Wizard indeed dressed head to toe in Natsu's usual outfit.

"You guys swapped clothes?" Happy giggled.

"Is this a side-effect of fusion?" Carla asked Erza, who looked equally confused.

"I, uh, I don't think so, what happened?" she asked the pair, who were bewildered by this result.

"Maybe... we rushed it?" Gray suggested, tugging at the smothering white muffler.

"Well, whatever the reason, do you two wanna get changed?" Lucy asked, gesturing to the forestry beside them. "We'll wait here until you're done."

Once sufficiently distanced from the girls in a clearing, Natsu and Gray began trading clothes back, an easier task for them than for most given Gray's tendency to wear the absolute bare minimum.

"So, what did you think of the fusion?" Natsu questioned sheepishly, stepping out of Gray's underwear and shivering slightly.

Avoiding looking at his nude teammate, Gray shrugged, slipping out of Natsu's vest. "It was a combat thing Natsu, don't weird it up."

Natsu bristled. "I was just asking, asshole. Now take off your underwear already."

" _What?_ " Gray jumped, completely misinterpreting the intention behind that order.

Natsu stared at him with a deadpan expression. "I'm standing here kinda naked, I'd like my pants back."

"Oh, right," the taller boy realised, briefly breaking his pact of not looking at Natsu until he got dressed, and fought back a blush. Gulping slightly, he chalked up his strange reaction to Natsu's (lack of) attire to post-fusion adrenaline.

All articles of clothing back on the right person, the two began to walk back to their team in silence, each deep in thought.

 _Why am I so cold?_  Gray wondered with a frown. He had trained naked in blizzards, so why was the sudden absence of Gratsu's warmth bothering him so much?

 _Just a combat thing_ , Natsu internally repeated, unsure of why it depressed him. Unsure of why he felt so empty out of nowhere.

Unsure of why he so desperately wanted to find a reason for combat again as soon as possible.


	2. Of Friends and Fusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desperate to combat the emptiness that came from separating from one another, Natsu and Gray try to find new partners for the most intimate of dances.

For the rest of the week, Gratsu was the talk of the guild. Upon hearing of his exploits from Natsu and Lucy, the Fairy Tail wizards were eager to see this fusion in action for themselves. However, despite the guild's loud pleas, and Natsu's silent hopes, Gray had firmly quashed the idea of an unnecessary fusion, stating his belief that it was only needed during emergencies, much to the disappointment of the others. Feeling particularly put out by this, Natsu found himself developing an itch, which he soon realised was a craving for another fusion. That kind of unity with someone close to you... that was what Natsu lived for. And so when Lucy had suggested that she and the Salamander take a job, Natsu had jumped at the idea and, feeling slightly guilty, chose a job that Mira had warned was borderline S-Class, a job Natsu knew would be difficult, so when the going got tough, he and Lucy would realise that the only way out was to combine their strengths in the most literal way. Lucy had been apprehensive, but upon Happy pulling his age-old trick of pointing out the reward money, she had been first out the door pulling Natsu by the arm, Jewels in her eyes.

Gray watched them leave with an unreadable expression, before returning to his steak. Since the fusion he had found himself being hungrier than usual, and for some reason eating did nothing to fill the void. A few days of overeating had left him worried for his treasured abs, so he simply decided to endure the strange emptiness until dinner came to distract him from it. Gray almost slipped back into his silent contemplation, when a presence appearing next to his table caught his attention.

"Gray-sama~"

Gray sighed. He was in no mood for Juvia right now. He was already irritated at her for the way she had been giving Natsu the cold shoulder for fusing with the Ice-Maker, and her flirty antics would do nothing for his patience. "What is it Juvia?"

"Juvia was wondering..." the Water Wizard hummed, sliding in next to him in his booth. Too close. "If Gray-sama would want to try fusing with her!"

"No". Gray had expected this proposition and his rejection had been waiting on the tip of his tongue.

"But why not?"

"Fusion is for combat situations, sometimes not even then."

"But this is a combat situation!" she insisted. "You have to combat Juvia's heartbreak!"

Reminding himself that he didn't start fights with guildmates besides Natsu, Gray restrained himself from simply freezing her and leaving, knowing she would only pursue when she thawed. Deciding to save himself the long-term grief, Gray rose to his feet. "One try and you leave me alone," he grunted.

Juvia looked fit to evaporate right there, before yelling at Mira to play a song for their "Love Fusion". Gritting his teeth, Gray walked to the guild dance floor before the stage, painfully aware of the audience who had gathered at Juvia's yells.

"Are you ready?" he asked her unenthusiastically.

Evidently his attitude didn't bother Juvia. "Always!"

Mira began to strum her guitar and the pair moved.

Gray performed his usual moonwalk to his partner before throwing an arm out for her to catch, only to realise Juvia was still swaying over to him out of range. He caught and steadied himself, very aware of his rhythm being thrown off. Taking Juvia's hand, the two moved slowly for a moment, before Gray moved behind her, the big spoon position being foreign to him in fusion dancing, and trying to fall into his grinding pattern that had come so naturally days earlier. Juvia let out a small gasp at Gray's crotch moving on her rear, and several watchers started to whisper. Evergreen's remark in particular travelled to Gray's ears.

"The perv's just trying to get off on her."

Feeling himself redden, Gray hurriedly attempted to escalate the dance, despite knowing full well that they hadn't even _begun_ to connect. Juvia twirled with him, a graceful dancer, but sheepish, unsure of where to touch or move. It was excruciatingly clear that the two had no synergy, hell, upon catching a glimpse of it, Gray would have sworn that Juvia's guild mark had darkened. The fiasco that was their dance culminated in one misstep that led to a fall, which led to a failed catch, which led to a crash. Juvia had fallen, and Gray fallen on top of her in a mess of limbs.

"That was just embarrassing..."

"Do they call that dancing?"

"Now that I think about it," Cana mused. "has Gray ever fused with anyone other than-"

"Enough! Break up the crowd, give them space," Erza's voice cut through the rabble. She helped Juvia to her feet, but when she motioned to Gray, he leapt up, face burning with humiliation, and brushed past her, throwing back a vicious "Now leave me alone" at Juvia before marching out of the guild.

Cana had very nearly stumbled upon his secret, Gray realised as he walked angrily through the dull day in Magnolia.

Gray had ever only successfully fused with Natsu.

He had tried before, with Erza and with Loke, the former of whom had had the understanding to never mention the incident.

 _"Fusion can't be forced,"_ she had said with a smile. _"Only do it when you're comfortable."_

He and Loke had reached a... different stumbling block.

He had known his attempt with Juvia was doomed to fail, but wanted to shut her up. He hadn't factored on such humiliation coming from their failure. Especially being accused of using her for his own lecherous needs. Getting close to people was always difficult for Gray, and fusion, the ultimate expression of closeness, was even more so. But things were different with Natsu.

Natsu was always different. Animosity aside, Gray had never felt the need to distance himself from the younger boy, never felt uncomfortable in his presence. Natsu would mock him, would insult him, and would hit him. But Natsu would never judge him. And Natsu would never hurt him.

Gray realised the dangerous path his train of thought was headed down, and quickly steered it in another direction. He would prove that Natsu was just a friend. The exclusive fusion meant nothing. Gray had simply not tried to fuse with the right people. Determined to kill these strange new feelings towards Natsu, and maybe even quell the aching void in his chest, Gray purposefully marched to the train station, deciding to pay a visit to Lamia Scale.

* * *

 

The colossal animated stone golem that had been terrorising the snowy mountain town of Salleow was indeed a powerful foe, worthy maybe of being treated as an S-Class opponent. No normal wizard could possibly defeat it alone.

Nalu was not a normal wizard.

" _Celestial Dragon's Star Burn!_ " she cried as she leapt through the air, raining golden flames on the monster.

Natsu and Lucy's fusion landed calmly on the shrine where the up-til-recently inanimate golem had dwelled, brushing the single strand of her strawberry blonde hair that consistently escaped her ponytail behind her ear. She brushed some dust off of her blue clothes, a long blazer and pants reminiscent of clothes from the Celestial Spirit World, coupled with a white muffler, before setting her amber eyes on the beast before her.

"Go, go, go!" Happy cheered from the sidelines, in awe of the power of the first fusion he'd ever seen.

The golem was visibly worn out. Missing an arm and a leg, it hobbled angrily towards its target. Once a statue of the guardian god of Salleow, a nearby mage battle had enriched the air with Ethernano, bringing the behemoth to life, at which point it decided that guarding the town was not particularly high on its To-do List, and promptly set out to destroy it.

"I'm bored of this and I'm hungry, so that means your time is up," Nalu grinned up at the glaring monster, which raised its fist in a last ditch effort to squash this especially irritating bug.

" _Meteor Roar of the Celestial Dragon!_ " Nalu bellowed, blasting a massive pillar of golden flame from her mouth, straight through the golem's head, and the body fell with a deafening crash. When the embers cleared, the stone was just stone, returned to its stagnant existence, the last of its magical power flowing into the air in golden sparkles.

Nalu happily took in the sight before her, but felt no need to stick around for the aftermath. "Seeya Happy!" she called with a wave, and before the Exceed could reply she was gone, consumed in a glow emanating from the dark pink Fairy Tail mark on her forearm.

Natsu caught the unsteady Lucy, who looked up at him with a pout. "Aw, Natsu, why'd you split us up so soon? I was having fun!"

Biting back the valid point that Lucy had been the one to embarrass Gratsu into defusing last time, Natsu simply shrugged. "Sorry, I thought she was done."

Lucy sighed. "Fair enough, I guess. Still, that was amazing! My first fusion! We completely destroyed that thing! Is that what it feels like to be as strong as you?"

"Kinda, yeah," Natsu responded noncommittally, not feeling like talking. He needed to think.

Being Nalu was... different. He felt smarter, more cunning, and certainly more beautiful, if a brief glance of her reflection in the snow melted by her flames was anything to go by, but she felt... weak. Not by wizard standards, no, she was most definitely stronger than Natsu. But by fusion standards. She lacked the raw, passionate strength of Gratsu, and to Natsu's intense irritation, he found his peculiar itch return with a vengeance. Fusing with Lucy had not satisfied his desires, and he had subconsciously known it wouldn't. Because he knew what he needed.

Or rather, who.

* * *

 

"You want to fuse with me?" Lyon questioned with a raised eyebrow, arms folded over his bare chest.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Gray muttered, picking at a loose thread on the dark boxers that were all he wore, to distract himself from Lyon's scrutinising eyes. The two sat across from one another at Gray's kitchen counter, in a brief, silent moment.

"Why?"

"Look, I keep screwing up fusions, so I'm not even sure if I can do it." _Without Natsu_ , Gray finished internally, but Lyon didn't need to hear that. "I want to try with you because I haven't known anyone as long as I've known you, and if I can do it with anyone, it's probably you."

Lyon considered this momentarily, before standing and extending a hand to Gray. "The things I do for you."

Gray smiled and took his surrogate brother's hand, and the dance was on.

Gray immediately backed into Lyon, relieved at the sturdy chest behind him that Juvia had lacked. The senior pupil pushed Gray outward and held him by his hips, and the two swayed together as Lyon traced circles with his thumbs on the bare skin at Gray's hips, and Gray did not miss the lusty look that flashed in the silver-haired man's eyes. Lyon lifted Gray by the waist and twirled on the spot, before setting the younger boy down and grinning at him. The two moved in close to one another, Gray spreading his legs to welcome Lyon's knee between them, vaguely aware that the same thing had happened with Loke.

When Gray and Loke had attempted their fusion, Gray had been completely naked, a state reached by simple merit of being Gray. Loke had assured him that this would not be an issue, but unfortunately the two never did achieve fusion. Instead, caught up in the heat of the moment, Gray had achieved losing his virginity (and for the following week, his ability to sit comfortably) to a ravenous Lion.

This was the unforseen drawback of Gray's intimate dance style.

Lyon's knee moved up and down gently, and Gray bit back a moan at the pressure on his testicles, before turning around until he and Lyon were again back-to-chest. Gray shuddered at his senior's cold breath on his neck, and hummed as Lyon's cool fingers moved to trace the growing bulge in Gray's underwear. Gray knew that this was no way to achieve fusion.

But as Lyon pushed the raven's boxers down his legs, and began undoing the belt of his own pants, Gray found he didn't care.

* * *

 

Natsu and Lucy had reported their success in Salleow to the guild upon arriving home, and Lucy had excitedly told those sitting at the bar, i.e. Erza, Gajeel, Levy, and Mira behind the counter of their successful fusion.

"Woah! You guys pulled off a fusion first try?" Levy gasped in awe.

Lucy looked smugly proud. "Yup. Natsu's a wonderful dancer."

"I guess you carry Fullbuster through your dances then Salamander?" Gajeel asked with a small snicker.

Natsu's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Gray's a great dancer."

"Recent developments would say otherwise," Erza informed them solemnly. "Gray and Juvia tried to fuse earlier today."

" _What?_ "

"Gray and Juvia?" Lucy cried out in surprise. "How'd it go?"

"It was... a little embarrassing," Mira confessed sympathetically.

"They just had no synergy," Levy began before blushing. "And Gray didn't seem to really be dancing so much as..."

"Grinding." Gajeel finished for her bluntly.

"That's how he dances! It's nice!" Natsu defended fiercely, earning a questioning look from Gajeel.

"Well, it certainly didn't work with Juvia. The fact that she pressured him into it probably didn't help," Erza rightfully pointed out.

"She pressured-? _That's not what fusion is about!_ " Natsu shouted, slamming a fist onto the bar and shattering part of the shiny counter. Fusion was meant to be an expression of friendship and love! Sure, Erza had coerced Natsu and Gray into forming Gratsu during the attack on Cyclops Ear, but that was a life-or-death situation, that was different.

"Natsu, calm down," Erza chided him sternly, and the Fire Dragon took a deep breath.

"Where's Gray now?"

"He left a few hours ago, right after the fusion attempt," Mira informed him. "He's probably at home."

Natsu nodded. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

Lucy seemed surprised. "Why?"

"Because, uh..." Natsu drew a blank, but thought nothing of it. "Someone should, he probably feels bad after a screw-up like that."

* * *

 

In actuality, Gray was feeling very, very good. Lyon's mouth worked ferociously between his legs where Gray lay in a daze on the couch, and Fairy Tail's Ice-Maker let out a series of wanton moans, cut short when Lyon ceased his sucking to turn Gray over onto his hands and knees. Gray cried out at a sudden firm spank.

"This ass," Lyon told him, squeezing it. "All the years I've known you I've wanted to touch it, what with you constantly putting it on display." He leaned down, and pulled the cheeks open, licking his lips.

* * *

 

" _Aagh, Lyon!"_

Natsu froze where he stood, hand tightly gripping the door handle to Gray's apartment.

Gray had just cried out Lyon's name, or more accurately, moaned it. Natsu was no idiot. He could figure out what this meant. If the sound didn't alert him, now that he stood at the threshold the smell of musky sweat filled his nostrils. The sweat of two men.

"Ungh, fuck, Lyon..."

"You're _delicious_..."

What Natsu couldn't figure out, however, was why hearing this occur _fucking hurt_. The itch that had been plaguing him angrily burned to a physical pain. Suddenly blinded by inexplicable tears in his eyes, Natsu turned and sprinted down the hall, not sure where he was going, just hoping that wherever it was was far enough away from here that he could forget that the two Ice Wizards even existed.

Forget them both, before he ripped his skin off to alleviate the agonising itch.

* * *

 

 _How did I not do this sooner_ , Gray thought vaguely, drooling slightly as Lyon's tongue danced in and out of his ass. The whole scenario was simply too arousing, and Gray felt the perfection of it spell out before him.

Naked, and pleasuring him, this man he'd known for years, this insanely attractive man. Gray's eyes were closed, but he could see this dream man clearly. The smooth, appealing ass, the insanely toned chest, the strong arms, the soft, pink hair-

"Woah Gray, what's wrong? You tensed up so hard your sphincter nearly cut my tongue off."

Gray scrambled to his feet in a panic, Lyon calmly following him up.

"What's freaking you out? I'll make it go away," Lyon hummed, leaning in to take Gray's mouth once more, only to be shoved back. "What the-"

" _Get out_ ," Gray panted. "Go away, I can't do this now, I need to think."

Lyon's face held a look of shock, but it was soon dispelled in favour of tranquil fury. "And after all that, I don't even get to fuck you. Typical Gray, all that's necessary is for _you_ to get a good time, no one else matters," he spat, pulling on his clothes in a hurry. Gray was too stunned to speak.

"You show off your body to everyone, you dance like a cheap stripper, and yet no one gets anything out of it but _you_. Now you even come up with this bullshit fusion story so I'd suck your dick, but do I get anything out of it? _Of course not!_ But don't mind me, have a good think. Think about who you're gonna screw over next." Lyon marched to the door and shot one last glare at Gray. "Fucking _tease_."

The ensuing door slam led to many shouted complaints from his neighbours, but Gray heard none of it. How could he hear anything other than what his oldest friend had just told him? Gray sank to his knees, and tried to sort out his thoughts. Lyon hated him now, or was at least furious. Gray would need to give him time to cool down, and he himself would need time to recover from such a vicious verbal assault, its possible accuracy notwithstanding.

More urgently however, Gray thought back to the reason he had stopped it. He had been being expertly pleasured, and as he daydreamed about the man doing it, he had found the wrong man on his mind. And the scariest part was, after he had realised the identity of the subject of his fantasies, Gray couldn't help but realise that he immediately knew that it had to be this man, and only this man. He had suddenly become so sure, the void in his chest roaring its agreement. Only one thing was left uncertain.

When had Gray fallen in love with Natsu?


	3. Split Down the Middle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray may have figured out his feelings for Natsu, but it's hard to confess to someone who's vanished off the face of the earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No fusion in this chapter I'm afraid, but don't worry it's still part of the story. But Gratsu and their drama come first

Gray saw little of Natsu over the following weeks, Lucy informing him when he arrived at the guild after his incident with Lyon that Natsu had left for a few days on a job with Happy. At this news, Gray felt the void in his chest, which he now identified as being Natsu-shaped, throb painfully. Gray had spent the entire night mulling over what he should do about his newly-realised feelings for the Dragon Slayer. Under normal circumstances, he would have resorted to his usual seduction method of waiting naked at Natsu's house to greet him, but these were not normal circumstances. This was not _lust_ he was feeling, this was _love._ Well, speaking honestly, it was both. While Gray's realisation had prompted him to imagine things like fusion, dates, and cuddling, he would be lying if he said he hadn't imagined pinning Natsu down, undressing him, ravaging him while he screamed Gray's name...

But, fueling his boner was not his intention when he went to the guild the next morning. He had planned, nerve-wracking as it was, to ask Natsu to come back to his apartment and tell him everything, tell him that Gray felt incomplete without him. Unfortunately, Natsu was nowhere to be seen, having already left for his mission. Gray had left on a quick job, and was back by that evening, only to be told that Natsu had not yet returned. This pattern continued for the next two weeks, Gray always just missing Natsu before the shorter boy was gone on another job.

The void in his chest screamed at him day and night, but Gray had no way to sate it, until finally, his Dragon Slayer came home.

Gray sat silently between Cana and Erza at the bar, on the 27th day since he had seen Natsu (he had counted), when the guild doors were kicked open and a smiling wizard entered.

And _fuck, Gray had missed that smile._

The longer Natsu had been away, the surer Gray had become that his lovestruck mind was exaggerating its memories of the Dragon Slayer's attractiveness in its eagerness for him to return. But now Gray knew that his fantasies of Natsu had been an understatement.

After all this time allowing his love for the pinket to flow freely, Gray was able to look at Natsu, _really_ look at him. The pink hair which Gray knew from pulling it was incredibly soft. The muscles that Gray knew from wrestling were strong and smooth. And that smile that Gray knew, by simple occupation of having functioning eyes, could put the stars to shame.

 _Yep_ , he thought, all doubt erased. _I love this guy_.

Not bothered that the Salamander was excitedly telling Lucy about his mission, Gray hurried over.

"Natsu!" he called, flashing his best hopefully-not-arrogant smile. "Long time no see!"

Natsu jumped upon hearing Gray's voice, and turned to face him with a wary expression. "Hi..."

Gray stopped in his tracks, and glanced at Lucy's surprised face to confirm that such a greeting was strange for Natsu, before quickly reassembling himself.

"How are-"

"Fine."

Gray's smile faltered further. "You must be rolling in jewels by now, do you ever take a day off anymore?" he chuckled in a weak attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Is there something you want, Gray?" Natsu asked bluntly, and Gray winced as thought the words had struck him.

"I, uh, I just- ...no, I... I guess not..." Gray gulped, losing his nerve in the face of this strange Natsu.

"Okay," the shorter boy said, before turning and walking quickly out of the guild.

Gray couldn't let them part like this, not if it could be just as long before he saw Natsu again-

" _I missed you!_ " he yelled at the retreating Fire Wizard, and the guild fell into a hush at this unprecedented outburst from the usually stoic Gray, all eyes on Natsu.

He paused briefly, and without so much as looking back, departed.

Gray couldn't breathe. _Just... what was that?_

So lost in his dejected thoughts, Gray only barely noticed Lucy shoot him an apologetic look, before running out the doors after Natsu.

* * *

Natsu had never felt so uneasy about a decision. He had resigned himself nearly a month earlier, after hearing Gray melt under Lyon's pleasuring, to the fact that whatever it was about that that had hurt him so much was best avoided at all costs, and so, by extension, was Gray. And it had worked, to an extent. His painful itching was still ever-present, but it was more an irritation than a pain these days. But now, after his encounter with Gray, it was threatening to tear him apart as every inch of him ached, urging him to go back to the guild, to find Gray, and then-

_And then what?_

Therein lay part of the biggest reason for his avoiding Gray. Natsu knew what the logical conclusion was, for his being hurt by hearing Gray with someone else, and for his desire to be around him. 

He knew that the explanation that made the most sense was that he had fallen in love with Gray.

He just didn't _want_ to know it.

"And what the hell do you call that?!"

Natsu sighed. "Lucy, I don't wanna talk about it."

"Too bad," the Celestial Spirit Wizard retorted angrily. "Look, it's not my place to ask why you're avoiding Gray, even if I don't approve of it. But you completely snubbed him in there and that's just not fair to him."

"Have you considered that it's none of your business?" Natsu spat, turning to face her where she had caught him in the park near Fairy Tail. 

"Actually, yes. That's why up til now I've said nothing. But you just crossed a line and you need to explain yourself."

"I don't _owe_ you an explanation!"

"Maybe not, but you owe Gray one! You always fight harder and stronger to protect the people you care about, and who care about you!" Lucy yelled at him, visibly infuriated. "What the hell are we supposed to think when _you're_ the one hurting them?!"

Natsu moved closer to his teammate, only an inch between their faces as he glared at her. ""Gray. Doesn't. Care. About. Me," he told her venomously.

"Why? What makes you say that?" Lucy implored him, standing her ground.

"He- he _hates_ me! He only wanted to talk just now because he wanted a fight! I've seen-" he grimaced at the memory "- and I've heard how he treats the people he cares about, and that's not how he treats me-"

A hard slap across his face ended his rant, and he looked in shock at Lucy, who stood before him fuming.

" _You are not that stupid Natsu!_ I once asked Gray his favourite colour, and he said that was _too personal a question!_ But you? He talks to you, he trusts you, he just yelled across the guild that he missed you! He doesn't even hug people in public and he said that in front of _everyone!_ And you," she finished after a deep breath. "You are the only person that Gray can fuse with."

Natsu stared at her, gobsmacked, trying to process everything she had just screamed at him. _The only person..._

"I bet he can fuse with _Lyon,_ " Natsu sneered suddenly, remembering the cause of his bitterness.

Lucy pulled at her hair in frustration. "What the hell does Lyon have to do with _anything_?!"

"A month ago I went to Gray's place to talk to him and I heard them fucking!" Natsu revealed for the first time, the secret he had told no one.

Lucy was momentarily shocked by this, but collected herself quickly. "And you're what? Jealous?"

"No! Maybe... I don't know..." Natsu groaned, his anger ebbing, and his sadness rising to replace it as he sank to his knees. Lucy quietly sat down on the grass next to him.

The two best friends sat in silence for a few minutes, resting their voices after their shouting match, and allowing themselves to calm down.

"Gray and Lyon haven't spoken in weeks," Lucy eventually spoke. "Every few days a letter addressed to Lyon from Gray will come to the guild, unopened, with _Return to sender_ stamped on it. Lyon's ignoring him. Just like you."

"So what, if Gray's writing to him he probably wants to get back together or something," Natsu huffed hopelessly.

The blonde inhaled deeply. "In the month you've been avoiding him, he's sent seven letters to Lyon."

"You're not helping-"

" _But,_ in that same space of time, Gray has asked for you at least twice a day, every day."

Natsu's eyes widened as he looked at her, mouth agape.

"Always the same thing, too. ' _Is he here? Oh, when will he be back? Oh, okay. Uh, gimme a shout if he asks for me_ '," Lucy recollected sadly. "Some days he'd come in and just look at me or Mira with the most heartbreakingly hopeful look in his eyes, and we'd shake our heads, and he'd just leave. Does that sound like he doesn't care?" she asked quietly.

"That doesn't even sound like Gray..."

"He hasn't been himself since you cut him out of your life. He's barely even worked, he always takes local jobs, making sure he's within a short distance of the guild, probably in case you came back."

Natsu stared at the ground before him, not really seeing it, pulling up grass absent-mindedly. Something happened between Gray and Lyon, and Gray had waited for him every day since.

 _He broke things off with Lyon_ , a sly voice in his head suggested. _Because he realised that he wanted to be with you..._

"Natsu."

The Salamander met Lucy's gaze with misty eyes.

"Say it out loud."

She didn't explain. She didn't need to.

"I love Gray."

* * *

"Well look at this!" Erza said happily, clapping her armoured hands together as she looked around their table in the guild hall, where Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Happy, and Carla sat. "In honour of the first time the team's been together in much too long, I've gotten us a job!" she declared enthusiastically, slamming down a sheet of paper before her teammates. "Nothing difficult, just helping to repair a town that got damaged in a storm recently. Mainly I picked it because given how far it is to walk there and back, we can spend the night camping. You all in?"

"Of course!" Lucy and Wendy piped up immediately.

"Aye!"

Gray hesitantly looked up from his drink at the pinket sitting across from him, who was staring at the request sheet. Gray shivered slightly as Natsu looked over at him and their eyes met. He choked back a gasp when Natsu gave him his dazzling fanged grin.

"Bet I can fix more of the town than you, Ice Princess!" he challenged, smile widening.

Gray blinked back sudden tears before scoffing in reply. "You're on, Flame Brain."

_("I think Erza's crying..."_

_"Shut up Happy I've got something in my eye.")_

* * *

It turned out that Ice-Make was far more beneficial to repairs than Dragon Slayer Magic, and Gray won he and Natsu's contest, the two shouting encouragement and score-keeping at one another throughout the day, until finally Team Natsu began their trek back home, soon coming by a picturesque riverbank that Erza deemed a perfect campsite, just as the sun started to set.

With the tents set up, the five humans and two Exceeds lay on the grass by the river in a circle as the stars came out, Lucy educating them as to which constellations were which, obviously being the most knowledgeable on the subject. Stories were shared, Natsu told them the most exciting parts of the jobs he had taken over his month-long absence, and the team at long last felt like a team again.

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Wendy said after an hour with a yawn as their fire started to die, picking up the already sleeping Carla.

"Good idea," Lucy agreed, stretching as she sat up off the grass.

"I'll go too, goodnight boys," Erza said as she joined them. "Come on Happy."

The blue Exceed pouted. "But I'm not ti-"

" _Come on Happy_ ," Erza repeated, this time with her steely gaze.

"...aye," he relented quickly, flying after Titania to the girls' tent a small ways away, as Erza smiled fondly at the two boys who still lay very close together, side-by-side under the stars.

A short stillness followed the girls' departure, broken after a few moments by Natsu softly speaking. "I'm gonna stay up and look at the stars for a while. Wanna stay with me for a minute?" he asked the boy on his right, neither moving as they gazed at the sky.

"Sure, sounds good."

Natsu shifted uncomfortably. "Look, Gray, all that time I was gone-"

"We don't need to talk about that. Not now. Let's just enjoy stargazing for tonight."

Natsu smiled into the night. "Yeah, okay."

Crickets chirped, the river whispered, and leaves rustled in the summer breeze. These were the only noises in the quiet night.

"Gray..." Natsu muttered sleepily.

"Hmm?" the Ice-Maker hummed, relaying that he was awake, if only barely.

"I missed you too..." Natsu told him, barely more than a whisper, as he rolled over slightly, resting his head on Gray's shoulder. He was vaguely aware before slipping into unconsciousness, that the closer he got to Gray's soothing chill, the less his itch bothered him.

Gray moved instinctively into Natsu's heat, noting as he drifted off that the void in his chest seemed almost non-existent.

Natsu probably hadn't meant to lay on Gray, the Ice Wizard considered as dreams took him. He should probably move him before they fell asleep.

But he never did, and the two spent the night basking in each other's presence as they slumbered.

Neither knew that the two of them would not wake up come the following morning.


	4. Joined at the Matching Hips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And with sunrise, Natsu and Gray are nowhere to be found.

"Are you okay?" Gray whispered, scissoring his fingers in and out of Natsu's opening.

The Fire Dragon convulsed below him, panting. "Y-Yeah, I think I'm ready."

Gray leaned over Natsu, who clung to the pillow on Gray's bed as the Ice-Maker prepped him, and planted a quick kiss on his bare back. "Not yet," he murmured. "I'll fit in one more finger to make sure. This is your first time, after all," he reminded the pinket with the shadow of a snicker.

"First-  _nnngh,_ " Natsu struggled to conjugate a sentence as the third finger entered him. "First time _bottoming,_ " he angrily reminded Gray, who had been having great fun ignoring this fact.

"If you say so. Back here you're still a little virgin flower," Gray teased with a feigned delicacy.

Natsu couldn't reply however, instead moaning into the pillow as his hands twisted up the fabric of the duvet. Gray grinned, realising he had hit Natsu's prostate in his ministrations. He removed his wet fingers, and started to drizzle lubricant on his cock. " _Now_ , you're ready", he told the Dragon Slayer, who raised his rear in agreement.

"Just _do me already!_ "

"Gladly," Gray consented, licking his lips before burying himself in Natsu up to the hilt, in one thrust, as the pinket moaned wantonly under him.

"Needed this, _needed you_ ," Natsu managed to vocalise, relishing this encompassing feeling off being _so full_ , moving his ass backwards into Gray.

"Fuck, Natsu," the raven-haired man hissed through heavy breaths, moving fast within Natsu, inside the heat of the Fire Dragon. "You're so, _damn_ , hot, inside," Gray grunted, but Natsu heard nothing as Gray repeatedly assaulted his prostate, emptying his mind of anything but pleasure.

"I'm almost-" Natsu began in embarassment.

But Gray knew he wouldn't last long either in this most perfect of settings. "Me too."

"So _close_..."

"It'd be nice," Gray thought aloud between thrusts. "If we..." He lost his sentence in his moans, but Natsu knew what he would say and continued for him.

"- could finish-"

* * *

" _Together!_ " a voice cried out, breaking the delicate silence of Team Natsu's campsite. The owner of this voice didn't move from where he lay for a moment, gathering his thoughts as he looked up at the sky, where imminent sunrise was evident. _A dream?_ he wondered, before groaning. _Yup, just a dream,_ he realised, disgruntled. _We must have fallen asleep out here,_ he deduced groggily, and, sitting up, felt a wetness between his legs. _Great, not only did we_ not _actually have sex, but it was a wet dream on top of that._

Listening closely to make sure the girls were still asleep, the man got up, slipping out of the ruined boxers that were all he wore, and walked down to the river to wash himself. Sighing as he slipped into the water, he hummed slightly as the warm water, orange from the reflected sunrise, washed over him, cleansing him of the embarrassing mess of semen that he had woken up with. While he was in the water already, he decided to check his bed-head. He had nothing to worry about, however, as upon checking his reflection, he saw himself looking flawless, not a purple hair out of place.

...

_wait._

_Purple?_

"Oh my God!" Gratsu yelled, springing from the river to run back to the campsite. There, he found two ( _very_ close together) indents in the grass where Natsu and Gray had nodded off. But that didn't explain why the fusion had suddenly come to be.

Drying himself off with his blue flames, he considered waking Erza for advice, then decided putting some clothes on would help. Gratsu was (proudly) bigger than both Natsu and Gray in every sense, and was not the least bit self-conscious, but decided that a naked man the girls might not immediately recognise entering their tent might result in an ass-kicking from Erza.

Ruing the fact that Natsu and Gray fusing had only resulted in his intimidation by Erza being heightened, Gratsu climbed into the unused boy's tent to look for the backup clothes that Gray brought on every trip, since Natsu's clothes had been lost in the fusion, and Gray's initial pair of boxers had been ruined by the fusion's wet dream.

As he got dressed, he mused the meaning of such a dream.

_What's happened between Natsu and Gray while I was gone? It hasn't been that long this time..._

He tried to access the individual memories of Natsu, and found a warmth there for Gray that hadn't been nearly as pronounced the last time. Unfortunately, Natsu seemed to be hiding this from Gray, so Gratsu was unable to define the feeling. So he tried Gray.

Gray too was dedicating a great deal of his thoughts to Natsu. Delving deep into his shared mind, Gratsu found a new affection for the Dragon Slayer within the Ice Mage, and reached out in an attempt to decipher it, only to be met with a splitting pain across his head.

_Think about who you're gonna screw over next._

"Lyon?" Gratsu wavered, clutching his aching forehead, and tried to make sense of this situation.

 _Natsu and Gray are both hiding something from the other_ , Gratsu contemplated, _and for some reason_ Lyon _is a big part of why they won't tell each other,_ especially _for Gray. Just what happened to these two.._.

Finally dressed, Gratsu looked down at himself. Being taller and more built than Gray, his clothes were considerably too small, but he had made it work. One of Gray's long sleeved black t-shirts served him as a tight crop top showing off his impressive muscles, and a pair of dark jeans held him very snugly, stopping two-thirds down his thighs. _I bet I have a great ass in these,_ he grinned, before remembering that he had to focus on figuring out while he was here.

For some reason, he simply could not defuse. Defusion was usually something that just _happened_ , without prompt or technique, but now he found himself unable to accomplish it, wondering if he had a job to do first. Completing whatever purpose it was that Natsu and Gray had fused for usually allowed him to defuse easily. Alas, Gratsu had no idea why he had fused in the first place. Steeling himself, he knew he would have to wake the girls.

* * *

 

"Gratsu?" Erza asked in confusion, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Is that you?"

The fusion gulped. "Yep, it's me."

The three girls had emerged from their tent at a loud call from outside, and now stood, flabbergasted at this sight before them.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked with wide eyes. "Not that it's not nice to see you, but-"

"I know, I'm confused too," Gratsu sighed. "I woke up, and Natsu and Gray were gone, and I was here."

"You fused in your sleep?" Wendy was surprised. "I thought that fusion was meant to be difficult?"

"Never for those two," Gratsu told her with a proud and lazy grin, before quickly coughing and changing the subject. "Anyway, I can't defuse, so do any of you have any ideas?"

Erza, who had been hiding a grin since Gratsu had revealed his accidental fusion, something straight out of a romance novel, spoke up. "Maybe you should stay like this for a while? It's possible that there's a reason for you being here that even you don't know yet."

Gratsu considered this. "That's a good idea. I suppose I can stick around-"

" _Excellent!_ " Titania cut across him excitedly. "Let's pack up quickly and get back to the guild. They _need_ to see you."

* * *

And oh boy did they.

After the initial tirade of shock, yells, and "Twice the man you used to be" jokes, Gratsu was subjected to most of his guildmates' individual feelings on the matter.

Loke and Cana had both hit on him immediately, Loke getting down on one knee to kiss Gratsu's hand, and Cana simply slurring " _yer hot_ ", at the Cold Flame Wizard. Freed had struggled to form words before this new contender for most attractive man in the guild, and spent most of their interaction stammering at Gratsu's abs, to Bickslow's immense amusement. Makarov had threatened a heart-attack upon seeing the two most destructive members of his guild fused into one, fearing the potential collateral damage he would cause. 

Lisanna had seemed significantly discouraged by seeing Natsu fused with someone else, but had hid it well, and been supportive all the same, telling him he looked great. Juvia had not been so courteous. Stalking the fusion for most of the day, she had left in a rage when Gratsu, no doubt using the Natsu part of his brain, had stuck his tongue out at her in a victorious motion.

But Gratsu's most anticipated meeting had occurred when Laxus returned to the guild.

Fairy Tail fell into a rare silence when the Lightning Wizard entered the hall, and Gratsu rose to greet him. The two had made fierce eye-contact, Laxus's eyes questioning and Gratsu's determined. No words were exchanged. None were needed.

Laxus smirked. "Just let me get a drink first."

* * *

The two stood facing one another, in the wide-open space in front of the guild, where Natsu had fought Erza nearly eight years previously, the guild forming a circle around them.

"Sure you wanna do this?" Laxus asked, removing his headphones. "You're a fusion, so I'm not holding back."

"That's the idea," Gratsu grinned in excitement.

"Are these guys sure about this?" Levy wondered from the sidelines, frowning. "I mean, Natsu and Gajeel together weren't enough to beat Laxus in a fight."

Gajeel gave her a reassuring pat on the head. "Salamander and the stripper are way stronger than we were back then."

"And Gratsu is stronger than Natsu and Gray," Mira smiled, waving with encouragement at the fusion. "A true fusion is greater than the sum of its parts."

" _Ready?_ " Makarov yelled from the centre, silencing the surrounding wizards.

Gratsu and Laxus nodded.

" **FIGHT!** "

Gratsu moved quickly, forming a trail of blue flame and directing it at Laxus. " _Sapphire Serpent!_ "

The blond leapt swiftly out of the way, only for the fiery snake to turn and pursue him. Dissipating it with his lightning, he turned to face Gratsu, only to find him missing. The fusion appeared above the Lightning Mage with astounding speed, throwing a flaming kick downwards, which, with some difficulty, Laxus managed to block, seizing Gratsu's ankle and smashing him into the ground. Gratsu rolled quickly out of the way of Laxus's follow-up punch that shattered the pavement beneath it, before landing a burning fist on his face, sending Laxus flying, to the surprise of the spectators.

"They're fighting on even ground!"

" _This_ is what fusion can do?"

" _Amazing!_ "

Laxus landed on his feet, recovering quickly. " _Lightning Dragon's Roar!_ "

The burst of incredibly powerful electricity shooting towards him too quickly to dodge, Gratsu held out his palms to meet it. " _Ignition Glacier!_ "

His cold flames swirled in front of him into a dense wall, which the Dragon Roar smashed violently into. Maintaining the shield for only a few seconds, Gratsu was able to stave off the worst effects of the attack, but at the last second his barrier cracked under the pressure, allowing some latent electricity to damage the fusion. Not giving his opponent time to rest, Laxus darted forward with a flurry off punches, which Gratsu met with equal force, each fighter landing a few hard hits on his opponent. Leaping upwards out of the way of Laxus's  _Iron Fist_ attack, Gratsu posed mid-air in the Ice-Make stance. " _Blizzard Phoenix!_ " he shouted, and the navy firebird emerged from flame and smashed into the Lightning Dragon Slayer, surprising Laxus in just how much damage it did as he was launched violently backwards.

Landing steadily, Gratsu called all latent flames in the area towards him, preparing his finishing move.

In the audience, Lucy's jaw dropped at the appearance of the Dragon of Blue Flames that she had seen once before.

Gratsu grinned as he saw Laxus struggling to catch his breath. " _Freezerburn!_ "

The great dragon lunged, a great explosion engulfing where Laxus had stood, sending quite a few of the watchers flying.

Gratsu breathed a sigh of relief as the flames died down and no counterattack came. _I did it,_ he thought with an exhausted euphoria. _I win_ -

But this train of thought was cut short by a pair of muscular arms seizing him from behind, which he recognised from the singed purple sleeves as being Laxus's. Gratsu struggled wildly against his grip in a panic. _When did he-?_

" _Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!_ " Laxus roared, and despite Gratsu exuding a burning aura to shake him off, didn't budge, ignoring the pain and holding his opponent in place. " _Raging Bolt!_ "

From a massive emerging Magic Seal above the two, an enormous lightning bolt of yellow and blue sparked to life, coming crashing down on the two fighters.

Laxus, a Lightning Dragon Slayer, was capable of enduring the worst effects of the attack.

Gratsu had no such luxury.

As the Lightning Magic around them faded, Gratsu crumpled to the ground and, to the surprise of the spectators, Laxus stood unsteadily, having taken incredibly damaging powerful spells from both Gratsu and himself to win. Freed was at his side in seconds, supporting him.

"Great win, Laxus, as expected," the Rune Mage commended the man who leaned on him. Laxus smiled at him before looking at the feebly stirring fusion before him.

"Oi, Gratsu."

The loser looked up and met his gaze, visibly discouraged, to find Laxus giving him a shaky thumbs up.

"That was way too close," the blond laughed. "If you hone this fusion of yours a bit more, you might get me next time."

Both Gratsu and Freed were shocked by this declaration, but both soon smiled.

The fusion smiled up at Laxus, who was momentarily caught off-guard at how he could see Natsu's grin and Gray's smirk rolled into one.

"Guess I gotta fuse more often then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just found out that there are TWO Rs in "embarrass" and I've been spelling it wrong my whole life but hey, live and learn.


	5. Divided Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the strain of prolonged fusion takes its toll on Gratsu, he decides to visit the experts on the subject.

"Guys, please keep it down, I'm dying here," Gratsu groaned from where his head was pressed to the smooth tabletop, nursing a pounding headache.

"What's wrong with _you_?" Lucy questioned in annoyance.

"Head's been killing me these past few days."

For two weeks, Gratsu had greatly enjoyed existing in a domestic environment. He had alternated between staying at Natsu's house and Gray's apartment, Happy spending a lot of time with Lisanna when the fusion needed space. He found different comforts in each home, sleeping better in Natsu's hammock, but preferring Gray's shower to the river Natsu bathed in. He had found missions far easier, having gotten special permission to take a solo S-Class Quest, at which he had excelled. Gratsu had certainly enjoyed the attention he had been receiving, from admirers of both genders. He had even been given flowers, and asked on dates, that he had politely refused. Life as a fusion was a nice one. However, on the eve of the third week, problems started to arise.

Fusion was never meant to be permanent, not even between the most resonant of souls, and Gratsu had begun to learn why. He had started having trouble eating, struggling to find a food that was both hot and cold, and feeling very unsatisfied with whatever meal he settled for. He was having trouble passing the time, each half of him craving something different. Sometimes he sat down to read, only to want to go for a jog instead. While jogging, he'd suddenly want to go home and listen to music. While listening to music, he immediately found he hated the song he had spent five minutes looking for, and walked out of Gray's apartment in disgust. One of his more prolonged struggles was that he frequently found himself subconsciously starting to strip in public, only for Natsu's modesty to kick in and stop him, aggravating the side of him that thrived on Gray's exhibitionism.

Long story short, even when sharing a body, Natsu and Gray just can't agree on anything.

On top of all this, Gratsu had yet to get to the bottom of the strange tension between the two. As long as Natsu and Gray were unwilling to come clean to one another about their mysterious new feelings, Gratsu was unable to deduce what they were. Going off his one available lead, he had recently taken a trip to Lamia Scale.

Lyon had not been happy to see him.

 _"_ Not sure if he's able to fuse _, huh? What a surprise, that was bullshit too," was what the elder Ice-Maker had chosen to greet Gratsu with._

_"What do you mean by that?" Gratsu had asked, surprised by this animosity._

_"Please, you're 50% Gray, like you don't know what I mean."_

_"Actually, I don't. Gray won't let me think about it," the fusion revealed, resisting the urge to punch Lyon's haughty face._

_The silver-haired man laughed mockingly. "So even when he's fused with someone he's able to keep things from them? Poor Dragneel, what has he gotten himself into?"_

_Gratsu had seethed. "Are you going to tell me what I want to know or not?"_

_"Y'know, I think I'll let Gray reap the rewards of his attitude. Have fun with that."_

Gratsu sighed recollecting that disastrous encounter, massaging his temples as Lucy looked on in concern.

"Your head is _still_ bugging you?" she asked in surprise. "Gratsu, I'm starting to get worried. I think being fused for this long is starting to take a toll on you."

"Gee, you're right. I'll just defuse then, why didn't I think of that earlier?" the Cold Flame Wizard huffed bitterly, having tried and failed several times to undo the fusion, only to fail at every attempt.

Lucy bristled. "Look I get you're having a hard time, but I'm just trying to help."

"You wanna help? Then maybe direct me to someone who actually knows something about fusion!"

"I'd be happy to."

Gratsu and Lucy looked up as Erza appeared before them, a rolled up magazine in her fist. "I think I've found your solution."

The purple-haired man immediately leapt up. " _Really?!_ What is it?"

Titania unrolled her magazine on the table. To Gratsu's surprise, it was just the most recent issue of _Weekly Sorcerer_.

"What do you expect me to find in this?" he asked the redhead in confusion.

"Check out this week's pin-up model."

Baffled, but desperate, Gratsu flicked to the magazine's centrefold spread, and found a fine specimen of a man sprawled across it on a bed, naked but for the blanket covering his crotch. Gratsu couldn't help but stare at the man's chest, but managed to form words.

"Why- Why would this guy be able to help me?" he stammered out.

Erza smirked at his entranced expression. "Maybe if you'd move your gaze a bit further _up_ his body, you'd know."

Blushing, Gratsu snapped out of his gawking and scanned the rest of the page, his eyes settling on the model's face.

His blood ran cold.

"Is that... _Rogue?_ The one from the future?" he gulped, his Natsu side suddenly filling him with dread as Lucy, the only other member of the team who had seen the evil Rogue of the destroyed future in person, quickly shook her head.

"No no, trust me, I made that mistake the first time I saw him too. That's Stingue, the fusion of Sting and Rogue."

His heart rate returning to normal, Gratsu analysed the man's face more closely and indeed saw the differences between the future Rogue, born of viciously absorbing Sting's power following his death, and this _Stingue_ , the result of the Twin Dragons' trust.

Like Future Rogue, the fusion had a mix of dark and light hair, but his was shorter, a black back and sides, with pure white bangs covering his left eye. He had gorgeous purple eyes, darker than the purple of Gratsu's hair, and a grey Sabertooth guild mark on his right shoulder. Stingue bore a small grin, his fangs evident, and a kind face, much younger and happier looking than the Rogue of dystopia. Gratsu couldn't help but feel a sort of kinship with this other fusion, but was brought out of this contemplation by Erza's voice.

"These two are famous for their fusion, so when I saw this, it occurred to me that they might be able to help you to finally defuse," she explained, and Gratsu broke into a grin.

"Thanks Erza, I think I'll pay a visit to Sabertooth," announced with a renewed passion, starting to run for the door before freezing on the spot and hurrying back to the girls. He grabbed the magazine and ripped out Stingue's nude picture before shoving it in his pocket and resuming his sprint to the guild exit. "It might come in handy!" he lied quickly, as Erza glared at his retreating figure.

"Wow, what a perv," Lucy laughed. "I can't believe he just stole the pic- Erza where are you going?" she asked, as Erza abruptly started marching for the door.

"Well now that he stole the best part, I need to go buy another issue."

* * *

 ~~~~"Woah."

"Natsu and Gray?"

Upon Gratsu's arrival at the Sabertooth Guild Building, he was greeted at the door by the very Twin Dragons he'd been seeking, who, having smelled him approaching, had waited at the door to greet what they had assumed to be Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster, and were instead flabbergasted to be met by the purple-haired Adonis before them, who raised a hand in a flimsy greeting.

“Yo.”

“Oh my god, you _fused_?!” Sting yelled excitedly, leaping up to the much taller man. “And outside of battle too, I’m so happy for you, uh, Natray?”

“Gratsu.”

“Okay yeah that flows better.”

Clearing his throat, Gratsu spoke up questioningly. “Uh. What do you mean you’re happy for me?”

“Well, I, uh,” Sting started to falter, looking to his partner for support. “I just assumed that-”

“Why don’t we go back to our place?” Rogue suggested, smoothly rescuing Sting from his awkwardness. “We can talk there.”

When the trio arrived at the mercifully Exceed-less apartment of the Twin Dragons, Gratsu started to get nervous. Thinking about the issues surrounding his defusion, he was beginning to worry that this conversation would get very personal, and found his words catching in his throat as the two Dragon Slayers sat down on the black couch next to a coffee table, Rogue gesturing politely to the white armchair across from them, which Gratsu promptly filled.

“So,” Sting piped up before silence could sneak in. “What’s up? You said you wanted to talk to us.”

“Yeah, um,” Gratsu confirmed, rummaging in his pocket before extracting the centrefold page and placing it on the table before him. “I wanted to talk about him.”

The two looked at the picture for a moment in silence before Rogue groaned.

“See, this is what happens when I let Sting make decisions. This isn’t the first time he’s roped me into… _less_ than modest photoshoots,” the Shadow Dragon Slayer grimaced.

“Oh come on Rogue, I told you, Stingue looks great in this picture!”

“And _I_ told _you_ , that you can strip on camera all you want, but stop bringing me along.”

“We’re a double act man! It’s weird doing it solo!”

“Then maybe next time I can keep my shirt _on_ -”

“ _Guys!_ ” Gratsu interrupted as the two began to bicker. “It’s not the nudity I want to talk about.”

“Wouldn’t expect a fusion including Gray Fullbuster to say that,” String grinned as Rogue sighed in relief. “But sorry, go on.”

Gratsu took a deep breath. “Look, this fusion isn’t exactly… intentional.”

Rogue raised an eyebrow, and Sting nodded, encouraging Gratsu to continue.

“Natsu and Gray fell asleep together a few weeks ago- they didn’t have sex or anything!” he quickly clarified. “- and when they woke up, well, they didn’t, technically, I guess _I_ did-”

“Wait, you’ve been fused for _weeks_?” Sting cut across him, sounding alarmed.

“Uh, yeah?”

“But you look… fine? Usually a fusion would start showing signs of fatigue if maintained for just a few days,” Rogue observed thoughtfully.

“What? No, I- I just started getting headaches a few days ago-”

“Just headaches?” Rogue repeated.

“Is that all?” Sting sounded impressed. “And after such a long time? Damn, not even _our_ fusion is that stable. The longest we held it was a month and even then we were feeling the strain after just a week. Towards the end we physically couldn’t do it anymore, and we just fell apart-”

“That! That’s what I need!” Gratsu quickly announced, finally approaching the purpose of his visit. “I can’t defuse!”

The Twin Dragons stared at him.

“You- you can’t?” Sting reiterated slowly.

“Yes! I wanted to talk to you two because I thought that you’d be able to help me! Do you have any idea why? Why I’m stuck, even after I started wanting to split up?”

“Do you though?” Rogue asked quietly.

“What?”

The dark-haired man looked up, red eyes meeting green. “Do you really want to split up?”

Gratsu was taken aback by this. “Of- of course I do! Well, I don’t wanna disappear _forever_ ,” he elaborated, feeling himself start to falter. “But,” he gulped, steadying himself. “Natsu and Gray have their own lives to lead and-” Ignoring the physical pain saying it made him feel, he persevered. “- and they’re not going to stay together forever.”

“Are you sure?” Sting hummed, a small smile forming on his lips. “I’ve never heard of a fusion lasting this long without side-effects. I think they want to stay together more than you, or they, realise.”

“Just because they want to defuse doesn’t necessarily mean they want to abandon you, or this closeness they’ve developed,” Rogue took over, eyes softening at Gratsu’s obvious uncertainty. “They just need space. It’s completely natural.”

Sting stood up, his grin widening. “And besides, there’s only _one possible reason_ for an _unconscious_ fusion,” he explained, holding out a hand to Rogue, and Gratsu could suddenly see so clearly the bond they shared in their eyes, wondered how he had ever missed it.

Smiling with boundless affection, Rogue took Sting’s hand and rose to his feet. To Gratsu’s immense surprise, the guild marks on their shoulders were already glowing, just from such a simple touch. “If two people are longing to be together so much that they become one without even trying, that they unite out of pure instinct, without effort, without even a dance, it can only be explained by one thing,” Rogue spoke softly as Sting placed his hands on the brunet’s hips, and Rogue wrapped his arms around the blonde’s neck. The two leaned in to each other, foreheads touched, and the light blossomed.

Gratsu’s heart beat in his throat. He felt as though he was approaching the answer. Why he had been so abruptly brought to life, and why he couldn’t leave…

Within the light, he heard Sting and Rogue’s voices once more, speaking in harmony.

“You already know why you’re here.”

As the light faded and he appeared, clad in black pants and a red and white blazer, Stingue smiled at the awestruck and emotional Gratsu.

“Love.”

* * *

 

The breeze whistled through the leaves on the green hill overlooking Magnolia. Team Natsu often stood on this hill to enjoy the view of their hometown when returning from missions. But now only one man sat there, gazing at the town as the sun sank in the orange sky.

One man who bore the hearts of two.

“So.”

He spoke to himself, to the souls within him.

“Natsu loves Gray.”

A comforting warmth bloomed in his chest, easing his hunger.

“Gray loves Natsu.”

A soothing chill swept over his head, calming its throbbing.

The man laughed softly.

“You guys could have saved us all so much trouble if you’d just told each other,” Gratsu spoke aloud, and the purple Fairy Tail mark on his clavicle finally, _finally_ , began to shine.

“And you know what? I think you should.”

Natsu nearly fell over as he found his footing, having not stood on his own for nearly a month. He took in a deep breath, relishing the cool air as sunlight poured over him. At long last he was himself again.

With one minor adjustment.

The itch that had plagued him was nowhere to be found.

Natsu opened his eyes, and looked to his right, and there Gray stood, staring back at him, expression unreadable.

Gratsu had wanted them to confess their feelings to one another, but he had been mistaken.

They didn’t need words now.

Natsu ran to his Ice-Maker, who felt the void in his chest fill with the Fire Dragon’s warmth as he wrapped his arms around him.

The sun disappeared from sight as the two drank in each other’s presence, split in two once again but more together than they had ever been.

Last time Natsu and Gray had been together under the stars they had been a pair, and they had become one.

This time, they were both.

And this time they meant it.


	6. Forays Into Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple at last, our boys finally have the opportunity to be fluffy and romantic! Natsu is in his element, but Gray...

Gray perused his bills with a sort of morbid fascination, like that of a man observing the guillotine about to take his head. He had seriously stacked up some fees over the last few weeks, and found himself with less and less money to pay them, the main cause being that he hadn’t taken a job in over a week. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t even left the apartment. Gray had a certain, very prominent, distraction to blame.

Said distraction propped the chin of its pink-haired head on Gray’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around the Ice-Maker from behind. “Whatcha readin’?” Natsu asked with a bubbly enthusiasm.

“Bills.”

“Ew. Lame. That’s lame, Gray. You know what isn’t lame? Making out. Making out while sex happens. That’s not lame. Gray, that’s like, the least lame.”

Gray had to admit, he had a point, and the fact that their current embrace was devoid of any clothing added to the appeal of Natsu’s proposal. The fact that the two had been naked for about six days straight did nothing to lessen the effect. “Hmm, you’ve come a long way from _Oh Gray, it’s my first time be careful and make sure it doesn’t hurt_.”

“I was a kid then.”

“It was six days ago.”

“Yeah, and it feels like six _million_ days since we had sex.”

“We had sex last night.”

“Yeah but you topped.”

“You topped yesterday afternoon.”

“So you see my point? _Eons_ , Gray, _eons_ since I got any booty.”

“Your dick is currently pressed up against the booty,” Gray pointed out with amusement to his boyfriend, who hadn’t taken long to progress from “virgin” to “sex maniac”. Not that Gray was complaining.

“ _Against_ , sure, but it would very much like to be _in_ ,” Natsu clarified impatiently, slowly beginning to grind against Gray.

“Natsu we haven’t had work in a week, I have bills to-”

“I’ll do that thing you like.”

“…with the cat ears?”

“And the tail.”

“Work can wait another day.”

* * *

 

Evidently, it could _not_. For it was today that work decided to come knocking on Gray’s door. If one takes _work_ as _Erza,_ and _knocking on_ as _breaking down_.

“Oh! You two finally defused!” she noticed happily as Lucy covered her eyes with a squeak. Natsu and Gray, not happy about this interruption, stood before the two girls wearing matching scowls. It had not occurred to them to wear anything else.

Lucy may have felt the need to avert her eyes but the boys and Erza were years past modesty, and she continued speaking without hesitation. “So I guess from your attire that you two are a couple now?” she beamed.

“Yes. And we are a busy couple,” Natsu informed her angrily. “So if you could tell us why you’re-”

“ _Being a couple is no excuse for slacking off_ ,” Erza growled, immediately putting the boys back in their place.

“How can her mood change so fast…” Lucy sighed, continuing the difficult task of keeping her eyes off her teammates. “Congrats by the way, took you guys long enough.”

“Yes, yes, excellent news,” Titania agreed with a wave of her hand. “Now when do you two plan on coming back to the guild? A week without work is not a good trend, and I won’t see it continue. Understood?”

“Aye sir,” the boys relented, sighing while Erza reattached Gray’s door as she and Lucy turned to leave the apartment.

“We’ll be waiting downstairs,” she told them. “Come down when Natsu’s dressed.”

“What about Gray?”

“Is there even any point?” Lucy pointed out, and Natsu conceded that she was right, of course, and began searching Gray’s apartment for his clothes as the girls departed.

“Okay, so where is everything?”

“I know one of your sandals is on the lamp.”

“My vest is in the shower I think.”

“Your scarf was still tied to the bedpost last time I saw it.”

“Did my pants even make it to the apartment?”

“Shit, you’re right, I think they’re in the park. You can borrow a pair of mine.”

This hunt continued until Natsu managed to cobble together a passable outfit, although he was adorned from the waist down in Gray’s pants, underwear, shoes and socks due to their inability to find Natsu’s own, locating only his vest and scarf (and only one sandal). Gray couldn’t deny that he didn’t exactly miss Natsu’s loose pants, as Gray’s own dark skinny jeans hugged Natsu nicely.

“That looks good on you,” Gray told the pinket, genuine compliments to his rival still feeling strange on his tongue. “Squinty eyes,” he added for good measure.

Natsu simply smiled at him. “Thanks, droopy eyes. I’m impressed that you got dressed,” he said, gesturing to Gray’s outfit of his favourite blue and white trenchcoat and black pants. “Sometimes I forget how handsome you look when you try.”

 _Shitfuck abort mission_ , Gray’s mind thought wildly. Complimenting people was always hard for Gray, and fluffy romance was borderline impossible. So in the week since they had gotten together post-defusion, Natsu had developed the ability to make Gray’s heart race with simple words. “Handsome” was just one of them. When Gray had cracked a particularly funny joke, Natsu had, between laughs, choked out “Gray, you’re great”, and had only laughed harder upon seeing the redness on his partner’s face. Gray had wanted to be with Natsu for nearly two months before it happened, and although he had fully intended to treat the man of his dreams with the affection he deserved, Gray found the idea of romance to be surprisingly daunting now that it was upon him. Sex was no issue, the past six days had proven that. Gray was good at sex, he understood sex.

Romance? Talking? _Meaningful connections?!_

Gray wasn’t a goddamn rocket scientist.

Luckily for Gray, as he had guided Natsu in the bedroom, the Dragon Slayer was more than willing to teach the Ice-Maker the ins and outs of being a good boyfriend.

Lesson 1: Hand-holding.

Natsu stood in the door, not wanting to keep the girls waiting, and motioned for Gray to join him, and he did, locking the door behind them.

Gray could feel the weight of their silence as the two ventured outside Gray’s apartment for the first time in days, and his throat felt dry, seeming to close in on itself when he considered speaking. Natsu didn’t seem bothered, but what if Gray was boring him? What if Gray couldn’t do anything besides sex?

All of Gray’s fears were quelled, fortunately, when he felt warm fingers slip into his own.

He jumped slightly at the sudden contact, but found Natsu’s warmth had a calming effect on him, relaxing as they moved into the elevator at the end of the hall. Now they stood together in the small space, and Gray heard quiet hums coming from Natsu, who bounced on the balls of his feet, swinging Gray’s hand slightly, and felt affection for the shorter boy fill him at the adorable display.

The raven-haired man was surprised when the elevator door opened again on the ground floor, usually taking about forty seconds. Watching Natsu was a good way to kill time, he supposed.

* * *

 

Well, it had been cute at first, but now Gray’s hand was going to fucking melt.

He sat at a table by the guild’s stage next to Natsu, who hadn’t relinquished his hand since that morning. Erza had rushed to the guild ahead of the boys to announce that they were dating to the guild, along with a stern warning not to act like anything was out of the ordinary. She reinforced her threat by grazing Wakaba with a thrown sword when a mildly homophobic remark escaped his mouth. As a result, there was no great reaction to seeing the boys holding hands, much to Gray’s relief.

But as he felt his hand drown in its own sweat, Gray wondered if there was a polite way to request a respite from Natsu’s casual affection.

_Gray pleaded. “Natsu, sorry but my hand’s getting a bit warm, could we-”_

_“YOU’RE BREAKING UP WITH ME?!” Natsu yelled, tears in his eyes._

_“What?! No I-”_

_“How could you do this to him?” Lucy scolded Gray venomously as she patted the weeping Natsu’s back._

_“Now that Natsu’s out of the picture, Gray-sama can marry Juvia and have thirty children!” the Water Mage declared with great zeal, hugging Gray._

_“Man and wife!” Makarov declared to newlyweds Gray and Juvia, as Gray considered gnawing his arm off to escape-_

Okay, a bit worst case scenario, Gray realised, but the arm gnawing thing might actually come in handy. It works for coyotes.

Natsu was currently laughing at Gajeel’s performance on the stage, giving Gray time to try and think of a way out without hurting the Dragon Slayer’s feelings.

Just subtly slip his hand free? Not out of this vice grip.

Excuse himself to go to the bathroom? Natsu would probably come with him.

Tell Natsu he needed his hand to cut his food? Natsu would call him a pussy and tell him to eat the whole damn steak in one bite.

 _Bite the bullet, Gray,_ he told himself. _Be a man! Tell your… boyfriend… that you don’t wanna… hold hands… right now... Okay maybe not a man exactly. BE A BRAVE COWARD GRAY!_

“Natsu!” he barked, riding a wave of ridiculous adrenaline. “My hand is getting kinda warm!” he told the pinket who had turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. “I would like to stop holding hands for a while!” Gray finished with a loud and business-like tone, glad that his voice was drowned out to everyone else by the Iron Dragon Slayer’s butchering of music.

Natsu blinked. “Oh, okay, sure,” he replied with a nod, slipping his hand out of Gray’s before calmly turning back to watch the performance.

Gray clenched his fist as his heart beat ferociously. _I have stared death in the face and come out unharmed. I am a god among men._

_…_

_My hand’s cold now._

* * *

 

Lesson 2: Public Displays of Affection

 _Oh God everyone’s staring,_ Gray thought in a panic, upon seeing Lucy glance at him for a fraction of a second. Gray looked at the snoring Dragon Slayer leaning on his shoulder.

Natsu falling asleep at the guild was nothing new, but when his fluffy pink head had dropped into the crook of Gray’s neck, the Ice-Maker had panicked.

 _They’re all judging us,_ he worried, as Erza mentioned to Mira how cute the two looked.

 _They think we’re being way too public,_ he agonised, as Elfman said to Lisanna how manly Natsu and Gray were for being so shamelessly caring.

 _They’re gonna kick us out of the guild for this display!_ he frenzied, as literally no one cared.

“Natsu, hey Natsu, wake up-”

“WHAT IS IT ARE YOU OKAY??” Natsu roared, getting the attention of the entire guild as he immediately snapped to consciousness. “Gray!” he yelled, grabbing his boyfriend by his bare shoulders. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Sad? _Horny_?”

“ _Natsu_!” Gray flushed as their surrounding guildmates laughed. “I’m _fine_!”

“Oh,” the Salamander panted, his dragonic protectiveness fading as he relaxed. “Then why’d you wake me?” he asked as their friends went back to their own business.

“I, uh-”

“Did you _miss_ me?” Natsu grinned, sitting back down.

Gray’s eye twitched but figured this was a better excuse. It wasn’t exactly false either. “Yeah. Yeah, I missed you.”

Natsu’s fanged smile widened and he leaned his face into Gray’s chest.

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

 _Ice Princess, Frosty, Droopy-Eyes, come back, all is forgiven,_ Gray beseeched silently at this most flustering of pet names.

“Gray, your heartbeat’s going crazy. Are you dying?”

“Yes.”

* * *

 

Lesson 3: Dancing

“Oh!” Natsu perked up as Mira began to strum her guitar. “I love this song!”

“She got out exactly one chord Flame-Brain, how could you possibly know-”

“Can we dance?” the Dragon Slayer asked Gray eagerly, ignoring his question.

 _Ah. There’s the ulterior motive_. Gray hadn’t danced in front of their friends since his catastrophic fusion attempt with Juvia, but he figured that he should make sure he didn’t get rusty. He had always been a good dancer, and he intended to stay that way. “Sure,” he agreed, taking the hand of the pinket, who beamed at such immediate results.

The two took to the dance floor as the demon barmaid picked up the pace of her playing. Natsu was positively glowing, grinning at Gray as the two swayed together, and Gray caught Reedus painting them out of the corner of his eye. He suddenly found he didn’t mind very much. He and Natsu were going to be together quite a lot from now on. Might as well get a few pictures.

When the chorus hit, Gray spun Natsu, who showed his enjoyment through a series of almost giggles, and the Ice Mage felt blessed to be the one causing them. He didn’t get to enjoy it for long though, as when he pulled Natsu into a dip, he vanished.

Gratsu looked around in confusion before realising what had happened. “Oh god _damn_ it!” he cursed angrily. “They were having such a nice moment!”

The guild stared at this unexpected development, and Mira’s song came to a sudden stop.

Lucy marched up to the surprise fusion in exasperation. “Look, it’s always good to see you, but Natsu and Gray like, _just_ got back. Do you plan on staying for weeks again?”

“What? _No_ , I- this was an accident!” the purple-haired man explained, equally irritated.

“Accidental fusion? Damn those two have got it bad,” Cana laughed, and next to her, Elfman nodded seriously.

“The only thing manlier than love, is love with two men. _Twice_ the manly!” he explained proudly.

“Nope, I’m not sticking around this time,” Gratsu huffed in irritation, spinning wildly on the spot in a desperate attempt to undo the fusion.

Lucy sighed. “I heard Laxus saying he thinks Gray could beat Natsu in a fight,” she deadpanned.

“Like hell he can!” Natsu growled, grabbing Gray by the arm. “Come on, fight me- Oh, we’re back.”

“That was fast,” Gray noted, impressed, looking at Lucy. “Have you been studying fusion or something? How did you know that would work?”

“I’ve been studying _Natsu_ since I joined the guild. I knew it’d work.”

“Still,” Natsu whined. “Does this mean we can’t dance without fusing? I love being Gratsu but it’s hard to do a one-man tango.”

“Maybe just, actively try not to fuse?” Levy suggested uncertainly from beside Gajeel, who was annoyed at he and Levy's dance being cut short by fusion drama.

Natsu and Gray looked at each other.

“Worth a shot,” the brunet shrugged.

After a moment’s preparation, Mira resumed playing, and the boys resumed their dance.

“So far so good,” Natsu stated hesitantly, as he and Gray stuck to simply waltzing back and forth.

“This is… nice,” Gray said, trying not to sound bored, but this was nothing compared to he and Natsu’s usual heated dancing.

“I know it’s not as fun as usual, but we can do that too! Some other time. I love being _us_ , but for now let’s be us separately,” Natsu smiled reassuringly. “I like being able to look at you.”

Gray’s expression softened as he gazed at his dragon. “Yeah… hey Natsu?” Gray whispered, subconsciously leaning towards him.

“Yeah?” Natsu replied at an equally quiet pitch as their foreheads touched.

“I lo-”

Gratsu blinked as he looked around, finding Lucy facepalming, and finding himself again on the dance floor.

“ ** _MOTHERFU-_** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah for fluff! We'll have your shockingly irregularly scheduled plot next time, hopefully not after such a long time this time round!


	7. Gay Double Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu and Gray are pretty comfortable in their relationship with each other, but they have a couple of friendships that need attention, some are fun, and some not so much. The woes of dealing with an angry icicle, and the enjoyment of bonding with twin dragons.

"Gray."  
Natsu straightened his other half's tie, as the two donned the nicest suits in Gray's wardrobe. "Before we meet up with the guys, I want to go to Lamia Scale."  
"Lamia?" Gray hummed, enjoying his boyfriend's fussing, but not really listening to him. "Sure. Why?"  
"I think we should talk to Lyon."  
This brought Gray back to attention. "Lyon? Uh, he and I aren't really... on good terms right-"  
"Yeah, I noticed," Natsu continued as though Gray hadn't spoken, fixing a few of Gray's missed buttons, "that he wasn't exactly happy to see Gratsu when he dropped by."  
Gray had forgotten about that. "Oh. Right."  
"But he's been your friend since you two were kids, and I don't like that you guys aren't talking. I know I'd hate to fall out with someone like Lisanna."  
"Well, yeah," Gray gulped. "But, do you know, ah, why we aren't-"  
"You two had a thing," - this word was highlighted with poorly veiled distaste - "and then broke up, right?"  
Gray blinked. "What? _No_ , we were never a thing, not _really_ -"  
"But you fucked." Natsu's face was stony.  
"No!" Gray insisted.  
"Then what were you doing with him?"  
"When?!"  
"The day," Natsu grunted, "that you tried to fuse with Juvia."  
Gray's voice died in his throat. "What... what do you-"  
"All I know is I went to your apartment and heard you both... moaning at each other, and I could smell the musk a mile away."  
"Oh God." Gray rubbed his eyes. "That was just a mistake. I was trying to fuse with him and we got carried away because of my _stupid_ , slutty dancing-"  
"Your dancing is great," Natsu assured him. "But why were you trying to fuse with him? Him and Juvia?"  
Gray's eyes suddenly found themselves glued to the wall behind Natsu. "I guess... I needed to know..."  
"Know...?"  
"...that you aren't the only one."  
This took Natsu by surprise. "The only one..." he encouraged.  
"That I could fuse with!" Gray finally admitted out loud, after knowing it for months.  
"Wait, you've never-?"  
"Not with anyone else."  
"Wow."  
And there was silence.  
"Have you ever tried, or...?"  
"Four people, excluding you. All failures." Gray cracked a small smile. "I always was a lousy dancer."  
"I guess I'm just great," Natsu grinned at him, before snapping out of his distraction. "Anyway, so you and Lyon were doing... whatever it is you were doing-"  
"Mainly oral and-"  
"Was _not_ asking," Natsu growled with a crinkled nose, knowing that the event in question took place before he and Gray got together, but still feeling rather bitter about it. "So what caused the fight? Couldn't get it up? He wanted you to call him " _Senpai_ "? Is he small? Did you laugh?"  
"No, no, kinda, no," Gray chuckled. "But yeah so while he was eating my a-" Natsu's face darkened. "While we were, uh, _at it_ , I stopped him before any actual sex happened. He got mad. Said I'm a selfish tease."  
"Why?"  
"Because he sucked my dick but I wouldn't let him fuck me."  
"No, _no_ , why did you stop?"  
"Oh. Uh, I got distracted."  
"By?"  
Gray knew that Natsu's curiosity would follow him to the ends of the earth, and decided to be honest. "I guess... when I was with Lyon, was when I realised that I had a thing... for you."  
"What?!" Natsu was visibly trying not to laugh. "Not a _great_ time for realisations there, Gray-bae."  
"Lyon thought so too," Gray recalled with a grimace.  
"Did you tell him, or-?"  
"God, no, I just told him I needed to think."  
"And he didn't take that well."  
"No, he did not."  
"Well," Natsu gave his boyfriend's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's hope that he'll take your apology a bit better."  
Drawing strength from Natsu's optimism, Gray nodded. "Yeah, let's hope."

* * *

 

Lyon was... curt.  
"Make it quick, you two, I've got a job to get to."  
"Uh, right," Gray stammered, not the most socially adequate person at the best of times. "I, uh, just want to, say, that I, um-"  
Across the table from the fire and ice wizards in the Lamia Scale guild hall, Lyon rolled his eyes. " _Today_ , preferably."  
"Look, he's trying," Natsu snapped, putting a hand on Gray's to steady him. This was not missed by Lyon, whose eyes narrowed.  
Gray finally got his words to work with him. "I'm sorry, for all of it. For leading you on, and, uh, all that."  
Gray and Natsu waited with baited breath, as Lyon showed no change in demeanor aside from shifting his gaze to look at his glass of wine. Natsu noticed that the wine was starting to lightly freeze over, and wondered if it were Gray or Lyon who was letting their emotions get away with them.  
"Thanks. For apologising."  
Gray released a breath he didn't know he was holding, as relief washed over him. Natsu felt Gray relax, and was glad of the lessened tension.  
"I'm sorry too."  
This was unprecedented. Gray and Natsu shared a quick and questioning look. An _apology_ from the proud and haughty _Lyon Vastia_?  
"For taking advantage of you, and for what I said."  
"Oh, uh, really, it's fine," Gray said quickly. "So are we... okay?"  
Lyon twiddled his thumbs slightly, and then loosed a small smile. "We're okay."  
"Thank God," Gray breathed as he felt the weight of this spat fall from his shoulders.  
Natsu sipped his milk through an exceedingly complex straw as he looked back and forth between the defrosting ice queens. He found it amusing that these two were so awkward that it took no more than a single exchange to ease their scrap, but neither of them were willing to put the first foot forward without Natsu's intervention (and Chelia forcing Lyon to see them).  
"So," Lyon spoke to Gray, with a sidelong glance at Natsu. "You two are an item?"  
Gray scratched the back of his head sheepishly as Natsu watched him with a playfully expectant face. "Little bit, yeah."  
"Would not have expected that, to be honest," Lyon admitted.  
"Oh, believe me," Natsu cut in. "We're _incredibly_ gay back at the guild, if you were there you'd definitely have noticed."  
"How does one act _incredibly_ gay?"  
Natsu visibly perked up, and began to move into Gray's lap. "I'm glad you asked-"  
"Natsu!" Gray hissed, mortified, as a few members of Lamia Scale looked over to see the Salamander straddling him. He shoved Natsu onto the floor as Lyon laughed.  
"Ew, what the hell is this?" Natsu retched, as his hands on the ground felt sticky. "Lyon, do you guys ever clean your floor?"  
"Not my job, Natsu, I'm S-Class, I've got bigger fish to fry. Ask someone behind the counter."  
As the Dragon Slayer walked off holding his hands out as though they were diseased, Lyon looked over at Gray.  
"I take it you're happy with him."  
"Yeah, I am," Gray replied, watching with a fond smile as Natsu received tissues from Sherry at the bar across the way. "Lyon... you know you're important to me too, right?"  
Lyon heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know. Just not... _that way_."  
"No. Not that way."  
Gray picked at a loose splinter on the loose table, unsure of what to say next.  
"I'm glad you're happy, anyway."  
Gray grinned at the senior student. "Thanks. And when you find someone, I'll be happy for you."  
"Hey Gray!" Natsu suddenly yelled from across the hall. "It's eight-thirty!"  
"Oh shit," Gray grunted as he rose to his feet. Lyon raised an eyebrow.  
"Something up?"  
"We've got reservations for dinner with Sting and Rogue at nine, so I'll see you later, unless you wanna come?"  
"Hehe, no thanks," Lyon quickly rejected him, raising his hands in a show of resignation. "Fifth-wheeling a double date just sounds depressing."

* * *

 

"He called it _a double date_? That makes it sound like, _super_ gay," Sting observed between mouthfuls of chicken.  
Dabbing at his mouth with a napkin, Rogue chuckled. "At what point was this not _super gay_ , Sting?"  
"Oh no, you got me all wrong, the gay is what makes it worthwhile," the blond explained after swallowing.  
Natsu raised his glass. "Preach."  
The two couples sat outdoors in quite the fancy restaurant, candle lit, under the starry sky. The four sat around their table, adorned with black tablecloth, all wearing more or less the same standard suits, only deviating on the colour of their shirts: Natsu wore a light pink, Gray light blue, Sting an actual white shirt because he "respects tradition", and Rogue wore black, making his outfit a black hole with the exception of the red rose brooch on his pocket, excusing himself with "They have yet to create a darker colour".  
"So guys, what's the occasion?" Sting inquired as he poured out a drink. "Quite a snazzy place for just a gay double date."  
"Well, we just realised that we never got around to thanking you guys for the fusion advice," Gray told them, cutting his steak.  
"So we figured we'd treat you both to dinner!" Natsu finished with a grin, licking his lips before resuming with attacking his lobster.  
"Oh, thank you, but we'll pay for ourselves-" Rogue began, only to be silenced by Natsu's raised finger.  
"No, you won't. You guys don't have any money."  
"What are you- Hey!" Sting cried as the Twin Dragons stood to search their clothes for money. Sting patted his front pocket, Rogue's back pocket, his own jacket pocket, Rogue's back pocket, in his shoe, and Rogue's back pocket. Rogue squinted at their "dates", who innocently continued eating.  
"Guys..."  
Gray held up two matching wallets in one hand, and poured himself more wine with the other. "Ice Make: Thieving Hand. Didn't want any arguments about who was paying."  
Sting looked at Rogue. Rogue looked at Sting. Sting and Rogue looked at Natsu and Gray.  
"Well played."  
"That's my man!" Natsu commended with a slap on Gray's shoulder. "But contrary to popular belief, not my top. Like, why do people assume this, we switch!"  
"Ugh, I feel your pain," Rogue sympathised. "I think it's because we're shorter, people think we bottom, which is so dumb. Like, why do people think that Sting is some big dom, like he cries when he bottoms."  
"Rogue, oh my God," Sting hushed him, scandalised.  
"Wait, which of you is bigger?" Natsu asked with a glint in his eye.  
" _Natsu!_ "

* * *

 

The gay double date progressed smoothly. Conversation flowed easily, Natsu didn't break anything, and Gray somehow managed to stay clothed the entire time. It was only on the way out of the restaurant that anything eventful happened.  
"Oh. My. Stars. Sting and Rogue, my _darlings_!" a tall and elegant-looking black lady in a clearly expensive suit strutted over to them from the bar by the entrance.  
"Ms. Donyx! We weren't expecting you," Sting greeted the lady, before turning to a bewildered Natsu and Gray. "This is Sara Donyx, she's Weekly Sorcerer's best photographer, we always work with her."  
Before either man could open his mouth in a greeting, the woman let out a great booming laugh. " _Best photographer_? Oh Stingy, you _charmer_. And can I say hello to your handsome friends?" she inquired, surveying Natsu and Gray through her red-tinted glasses. "Good evening, gentlemen."  
"Hello, my name is-"  
"Gray Fullbuster, oh sweetie, I know who you are. I'm not new to the business, you know, and you are quite a photographer's dream, you and Mr. Dragneel here," she chattered, seemingly not needing anyone else's input. " _The steamy Salamander and his dashing Ice Prince_ , oh my, the tabloids were buzzing when you two got together. If it weren't for that pesky law about photographing wizards at work without permission, you two would have been front page news!"  
Natsu chanced a look at Sting and Rogue behind Donyx's back, and noticed both were sporting apologetic frowns. "Uh, thanks."  
"And, would you believe it?" Donyx ploughed on with what may as well have been a prepared speech, as she dug through her designer purse. "I think I have a camera on me! Whaddya say boys? A few quick shots?"  
Natsu had barely bothered to conceal his distaste. "Yeah, I think we'll pass-"  
"I'll pay for your dinners."  
"Do you want nudes, we can do nudes."  
"Natsu!" Gray chided incredulously as Donyx let out her earth-shaking laugh.  
"Oh, you little devil! _Nude pics_ , I would never," she chuckled, before quickly adopting a serious face. "I'm not allowed outside the studio, I'm afraid. But!" She brightened up quickly. "I can still get a few nice ones, so line up you four, and dinner is on me!"  
Reluctant, but seduced by the promise of free food, the four boys stood under the arch of the restaurant's entrance, illuminated in the night only by a large selection of yellow fairy lights.  
After a shot of all four, then just Natsu and Gray, then just Sting and Rogue, then _oh wouldn't it be nice to just get the Dragon Slayers_ , then _oooh Gray and Rogue back to back_ , Donyx finally seemed satisfied. Until inspiration struck her.  
"Okay boys, last one. This'll be front page for sure. How about... a pair of sexy _fusions_!"  
Yearning to leave but in too deep to back out, the boys exchanged nods.  
Sting and Rogue simply had to embrace to disappear, and be replaced by Stingue, wearing a suit, grey shirt, and his white fringe over the right of his purple eyes.  
Natsu twirled Gray a few times to accomplish their fusion, revealing Gratsu in his black suit and purple shirt, grinning and ready to pose.  
"Perfect, perfect!" Sara Donyx squealed, snapping her camera wildly. "That's _perfect_ , boys! Now, I will see you all later, I have to go pay off your meals, and get back to my date! Toodle-oo!"  
As the photographer strutted back into the restaurant, Gratsu let out a low whistle. "She's got a _lot_ of energy."  
"You should see her when we do nudes," Stingue grinned, scratching the scar on his nose, carried over from Rogue.  
"Heh, I've seen one of your nudes, I can see why she'd freak," Gratsu teased, as the pair began to stroll around downtown Magnolia.  
Stingue placed a hand on his heart with a dramatic gasp. "Gratsu, you _flirt_!"  
Making a silent agreement to avoid addressing the topic of defusing, the two found themselves leaning against a park railing, overlooking the sea, lit only by the moon and the dock lights.  
"Y'know, I really like your hair," Gratsu complimented, nodding at the undercut white fringe, and the black back and sides. "I wish I had a nice multicolour blend like that."  
"Are you kidding?" Stingue laughed, looking at Gratsu's own messy hair. "That purple is gorgeous, way better than any swirl. And besides, you've got multicoloured eyes, I think that wins. They're _stunning_."  
Said blue-and-green eyes blinked in pleasant surprise, as a smile took Gratsu's lips. "I just realised, your eyes match my hair."  
"Huh. I guess you're right."  
"I would have noticed sooner," Gratsu reached out, brushing back the soft white hair, "if I could see them both..."  
He froze, hand lost in the warmth of the other fusion's hair. Stingue too seemed mesmerised, staring into the blended eyes in front of him.  
Electricity filled the air.  
Gratsu spoke first.  
"... Do you ever wonder if..."  
Stingue knew. "If you're a real person?"  
Gratsu nodded. "I've always heard it said that a fusion is not two people, or one person, that we're an _experience_ , for our components. But how can we just be that? We feel, we think, we-"  
" _Live_."  
Fierce eye contact followed this.  
Gratsu's voice was low. "Do you feel alive?"  
Stingue swallowed. "Right now, I feel _real_."  
This attraction, this magnetism was completely foreign, and neither fusion could seem to make out what their components were feeling about it.  
"I- I can't feel Natsu and Gray..."  
"That's because this isn't _their experience_ anymore." Stingue placed his hands on Gratsu's hips, pulling him close. "This is our _life_..."  
As lips collided, all thoughts of Natsu and Gray and Sting and Rogue were lost.  
They were not involved.  
This moment belonged to Gratsu and Stingue.  
And for one night, they weren't fusions.  
They were _people_.

* * *

 

"Room for two?" Gratsu breathlessly asked the receptionist at the love hotel, dragging a red-faced Stingue in after him.  
The man looked them up and down, and then threw them a key with disinterest. "You're _clearly_ in a rush, so pay quickly. Room 10."  
Smacking down a handful of Jewels, the pair quickly bounded to the elevator. As soon as it closed, mouth was on mouth again, not even noticing the doors reopen until a very startled couple jerked them back to reality.  
At last reaching their room, Gratsu unlocked it and gestured for Stingue to enter. The room was plain, but functional. The bed was huge and the lubricant on the bedside table was immediately evident. That would do.  
Gratsu locked the door behind him, and leaned against it, grinning at Stingue, who was loosening his tie with a deliberate slowness. Gratsu had no interest in such theatrics, and leapt towards the bed, somehow losing all his clothes in the process.  
"Holy shit, that was impressive."  
"Gray has years of practice," Gratsu commented with a wave of his hand. "Now hurry up and join me."  
Stingue was no slouch in the speed department, and Gratsu licked his lips as the underwear hit the floor. He lay back onto the bed, and Stingue fell forward onto him, melting into each other. Gratsu broke a kiss to breathe as Stingue frotted up against him.  
"Okay, you know what, sorry, I can't last through foreplay," he decided, grabbing the lube. "You okay with cutting to the chase?"  
Stingue took the tub from Gratsu, whose sweaty hands were struggling with it, and cracked it open, maintaining eye contact throughout. "Just _fuck me_."  
"Oh Lord," Gratsu panted, wiping away spit leaking from his mouth as he drizzled lube over his fingers.  
Stingue faced away from him and got an all fours, and Gratsu was awestruck.  
"This is an award-winning ass."  
"Well, put that oversized cock of yours to use and do something about it."  
"Fuck, fuck, _fuck_." Stingue was _talking_ Gratsu into heat, and he prepped the other fusion in a hurry, before lubing himself up. "Ready?"  
"Of course I _ahhhh fuck_ ," Stingue's words were lost to a loud moan as he sank into the bed, gripping and twisting the sheets, as an impatient Gratsu began thrusting into him, finding a way to brush his prostate every damn thrust.  
Gratsu was sure that he was bruising his partner's smooth white hips with how hard he was gripping them, but couldn't bring himself to care, too lost in his hormonal frenzy. "God... so _tight_..."  
"Well," Stingue laughed shakily, " _technically_ this is my first time."  
"Oh shit, me too," Gratsu realised. "So I guess you'll forgive me for how soon I'm gonna finish."  
"Don't worry, no way in Hell I'm gonna last with that _monster_ fucking me," Stingue spoke, muffled by the duvet he was biting.  
"Turn around, quickly," Gratsu urged, and the other complied, rolling onto his back, while carefully ensuring that Gratsu's cock never slip out. The pair wore matching excited fanged smirks, and were pleased with having accomplished a comfortable position complete with eye contact.  
"I really do love your _fucking purple_ eyes."  
Gratsu quickly grabbed the rock hard erection in front of him and began pumping it, eager to finish together. Stingue could only suppress a scream, and eager for something to hold onto, grabbed Gratsu's hips, stroking circles with his thumbs on the twin scars.  
Evidently, this was a soft spot for Gratsu, who let out what could only be described as a passionate sob, and abruptly came inside Stingue, groaning loudly. Stingue followed soon after, letting out a frantic mantra of " _Gratsu, Gratsu, Gratsu_."  
Pulling out, Gratsu collapsed next to Stingue and the two lay in a content, exhausted, messy silence for a while.  
"This was _ours_."  
Gratsu turned to look at Stingue, confused by his words.  
Stingue was grinning at him.  
"This experience will always belong to _us_. Thank you, Gratsu."  
"For what, exactly?"  
Stingue closed his eyes and continued to smile as he lay his head on Gratsu's chest and began to drift off.  "You made me feel alive. You made me feel _real_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think that Sting doesn't flaunt his gayness you're wrong. Also when I was proofreading I realised I wrote "lube" as "lub" and I think I laughed for five whole minutes. Anyway, I'm not gonna make any promises about the next chapter because I am a mess. Hope y'all enjoyed, and let me know your thoughts on Gratsu/Stingue bc I dunno if I'm gonna continue that plotline, so I'd like some input. (And on a side note, I actually have fifth wheeled a double date and it's not that bad, you just gotta make sure you're the most fun person there)


End file.
